It probably does not matter if I
read Star Wars: Smuggler’s Run
second, rather than first, and read Star
Wars: Weapon of a Jedi first than second, as neither impact each other. But
like the Luke Skywalker tale, this Han Solo and Chewbacca story opens with a
prologue set just before The Force
Awakens. We have a much older Han Solo sitting in a cantina listening to a
bunch of smugglers talk about fast ships. Soon, of course, Han must talk to
them about the fastest ship in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon, which then
leads into a tale set just after the events of A New Hope.
The destruction of the Death Star
has put a dent in the Imperial war machine, but the Rebellion has no time to
savor its victory. The evil Galactic Empire has recognized the threat the
rebels pose, and is now searching the galaxy for any and all information that
will lead to the final destruction of the freedom fighters. And Han wants to
pay off his debt to Jabba. But before he and Chewie can leave Yavin IV, Leia
comes to Han to ask him for another favor: a special-ops crew of Rebels,
responsible for safeguarding the secret of the current and next Rebel base, has
been discovered and five of six of them killed. She needs him to pick up that
agent, Ematt before the Empire gets a hold him. Of course, the planet the rebel
is on is in the Outer Rim, a lawless world by the name of Cyrkon. While Han
still refuses, it’s Chewie who eventually convinces him that they need to save
the young man (a good, well written part, by the way). Meanwhile, Ematt is
trying to evade the clutches of Alecia Beck, a Commander in the Imperial Security
Bureau. She is ruthless and very competent warrior with a scar and a cybernetic
eye to show just how coldblooded she really is. She is also the personification
of the brutality of what the Empire truly is: she sees everyone, including
those under her, as mere fodder for the advancement of the Imperial fist. After
their arrival on Cyrkon, Han and Chewie need to find Ematt, elude Imperial
forces and four bounty hunters who’ve come to the planet in search of what will
eventually be Jabba’s prize statue.
While the plot is a pretty
standard find-the-hunted-man-before-the-villains-do narrative, what makes the
book (despite being a Young Adult tale) good is author Greg Rucka’s wonderful,
often hilarious relationship between Han and Chewie, as you sort of end up
laughing out loud with the back-and-forth dialogue between them. You also kind
of end up sort of respecting the villain somewhat as well. She’s very three dimensional
here, which is something I like in this new unified canon –everyone seems to be
drawn very carefully.
While these books are slim, they
are well paced. The elimination of many sub-plots that would’ve filled out a
much longer book, helped the keep the story focused, fun and exciting.
Like Weapon of a Jedi, another
book in Disney’s Journey to Star Wars:
The Force Awakens, there is a slim connection to the film, which are the
bounty hunters themselves. Han mentions several of them, including the ones who
board his freighter in the film. After years of annoying them, is it any reason
those dudes took such drastic action against the famous smuggler?
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